As you know last feb, i had the honor to be invited at 2 Festivals in Kiev.
Program was huge 1 complete recial , 1 Night of Minimal Piano , a Premiere of Pärt Lamentate for piano & orchestra ...
Success was incredible , and from 3 concerts , i had 6 !
And last recital was the 17th ... in Maydan Square .... some little hours before ....
But little i knew that ....
Some of my Kiev Friends did a little video about everything that was going on at this time , and asked me the permission to use some music from the recital program.
After we were able to locate a recording that made of this recital (my video cam was broken), and unfortunately it was not 'usable" as we could hear the sounds of explosions and weapons fire ..... (i still can't belive i did not hear anything when i performed !!!! i was almost shocked when i listened to the recording !!! To bad it was the best Rääts performance ....)
So we used from my archive older recordings with the very same program (Philip Glass Etudes 1 / 6 / 7 )
here the video :
When i will have time, i will take time to write about this Kiev experience that really changed my life .... as many students who listened to my story told me that i really have to share it...
My dear friends Long time no news, i had not been able to keep those pages updated, as i really had no time. One of the reason was the preparation about forthcoming concerts in Kiev !
And at the closure at my Kiev stay, i will end up in the most wonderful way possible :
19th
- orchestra concert (National Academy Hall)
Arvo PÄRT : Lamentate
(national premiere)
National chamber orchestra "Kiev
Soloists"
i don't have the poster yet, but i will update everything once i get it !
Also a last thing, i want to deeply thank Maryana Yaremchyshyna who will be my page turner for all concerts. She did the most wonderful job last time (and was able to stay for the whole Philip Glass Marathon, i still can't belive it !)
here the complete performance in a time-lapse video
Still part of the Vexations4Japan tour i organised, the Monaco performance was also the very first time that i did a "long" version. By long version i mean more than 20 hours in a row. Well .... to be honest i did it only twice, 24 hours in Monaco and 35 hours at the Palais de Tokyo.
The idea to do a 24 hours version did not came from me. As you start to know me, you might have understood that i am pretty talkative, and in real life, i am even more.
When i was talking to Mr Boéri, the owner of the visionary galery "Entrepot" in Monaco, about the Vexations project, and explained him what it was.
With Mr Boéri we shared one point: to do avant-garde event in Monaco, and he was very interested in the fact that the piece "could" be 24 hours long.
So with a funny face, he look at me and said: "yes, yes, very interesting, let's do this 24 hours version!"
Luckily i did not start with the Monaco one, and i had the 2 previous other concerts to warm me up.
I wanted to push the experience further than a concert, and since we were in a Galery with no windows, i wanted that the scores will be all around the public. Unfortunately the idea was not really possible (but i still keep it in my mind and hope to do it one day).
And for the very first time, i insisted to display the public all around the piano, an idea that i will use many time after
But on the other hand, i had this interesting idea:
Since many scores were needed (840 to be precise), i wanted to make like an "inspirational" circle
Everytime i eneded the performance of one page, i let it on the floor
On the other hand, I met one of my painting soulmate : Andrea Clanetti Santarossa
He was using some scores, and doing paintings with it !
3 Paintings were made, and the public was able to win it. All the money will could get went directly to help the japan refugees.
Sometime Andrea could not stand it, and had to rest :
A very important point : once again, all the concert was displayed on internet. With it we got a huge succes as there was more than 2000 connections per hour !
The promo was very nice, and you can find everywhere related to that here at this link : promo
Now for the music :
My preparation was one of the most intense one:
No food and no drink for 3 full days prior to the concert. If the first day was very ok, the 2 other days, and specially the last one, i was more like a zombi. No food is ok, when you pass 20 hours, your appetite is reducing a lot. But on the other hand .... no drink is hard , as your body will do all its best to get some water, and .... taking a shower can be difficult as you can find yourself drinking by accident!
Past 48 hours, you start not to know if you are day dreaming or not. I still remember how much i was weak before starting the Vexations.
I took a lot of time to go to the Galery, and .... i did well since there was a trafic jam ....
As everytime, Mr Boéri wanted the concert to happen in the best conditions possible.
After the Perpignan performance, i had a long list of wanted food and drink. And .... i was surprised to see that everything i wanted was there !!!
But it is not as good as you think, since you really eating too much that you should, and after ... you really have problems ! And you know .... no stop !
The very good point of those version, is that it allways starts well.
You know you have to play slowly, because you have SO MUCH time !
Also i did not do the same mistake as Prague, and i did not see strange movies before. And the galery was full of light.
Also for the very first time, i performed the famous repeat that few are doing. You might have heard about the theory that, thanks to the Salabert edition, we are not able to understand the meaning of the last repeat sign, because it is a little different that the normal sign Satie allways use.
Well...... to prepare this concert, i was very happy to have receive a Facsimile in color of the manuscript, and saw that .... the last sign is a normal one, but simpy the black & white copy ruined everything.
So for the ones that do not understand quite well, the Vexations that i performed has this scheme :
Theme
Variation 1
Theme
Variation 2 (who is, in fact the Variation 1 upside down)
Theme (this was on this last repeat that the Salabert 1st edition is not clear at all ! and it is true that ... performing it makes the Vexations longer of 20% and .... muliplied by 840, it is quite important)
I still remember that, everytime someone came to see the concert, there was a kind of ringtone, and Mr Boéri took his time to explain the piece.
When i was performing, i was not very at ease with all this noise around, but unfortunately the Monaco public, is not the kind of public that will do silence meditation.
Time to time i was joking with Andrea, and also i was looking slowly by slowly how his painting were evolving.
Public was coming in a regular basis. There was public from all over the world, i received supporting message from USA and Japan, I was simply flying over the notes.
Also on those message, i remember that i received many various questions about the Vexations, the performance, and on me.
Mostly we can say that it was done in the famous "Musique d'ameublement" way, as i can read sometime over the internet. That means, a music that is done only to "color" the everyday life. Today we would say, music for elevator or Muzark (as i read in "Ocean of time" a book about Ambient Music).
But ...
That was ....
before 1 am !
First of all, i learnt a terrible truth : doing the Vexations in a normal way is really a mistake : i mean .... Don't do like i did for the first 7 Vexations !!! With the time you forget about the bad and remember only the good !!! Do not use a "normal" piano bench !!!!!! Never !!!!!!!
I know, it is cool, it looks great and pro, but ........ after 8 hours your back really ... Hurts !!!!!!!!! it hurts a lot !!!!!
This time i had no more pains with my hands and arms, but on the other hand ...... i had so many back pain .... my muscles were all tenses like rocks !
Passing this time .... everything changed. Public stopped to come, and only me, Andrea, Mr Boeri and his assistant stayed there ....
This time the "helish" moment arrived at night .... everybody was sleeping, and .... i was alone ......
Also i had no more message from internet as .... everybody was sleeping and so... not able to tell me ...
I tried to wake me up, using the spring water sprays, eating dry ginger , but that was hard.
It went along like that for 3 hours and ... at 4 am... pure despair !
And of course, slowly by slowly you enter into this "vexations" world, the despair of the music, each note sounding like a dagger into Satie's heart.
At 6 am, the other started to wake up. More joyfull, and could not belive that .... i was still holding on !
I still remember the frustration ........
They had fun upstairs, enjoying a wonderful breakfirst ! while i was there .... no i was not starving as i could get anything i wanted (i still remember the extreme kindness of Mr Boéri allways asking me if everything was ok ).
I could smell the coffee ..... the croissant ...... the laugh .....
and .......
i was still front of the piano .....
7 am : the audience came back, and also in the very same way i could heard more internet questions.
I had some massages for my back, i received some roses, and like everytime, more people came, they could enjoy nice food ( i ask some for me ). But it was very relaxed. Psychologicaly i was far away from this terrible moment of the night, the famous 'despair' moment !
But again, with the time running, it was once again very difficult to finish, and once again i really did not want to stop.
here a video with the last 10 Vexations
Again you experience this feeling ....
the one you don't want to have ...
like a farewell ...
You hug and hug and hug this very person who is so important to you
Your plane has to go
and ... you don't know when you will be able to see this person again
"very soon" you both say
you promise the world
but inside you ... you know the truth, that ... it will take time
much later, really later for sure
...
a lot of time ....
For the first time i started to really understand the music. And this is the keystone of this Monaco performance
Exatly like the wonderful Bill Viola video, if you have a quiet and meditating ambience, it works wonderfully, and ... for Vexations it is the same !
I still remember an internet folower that was complaining. This wonderful person folowed both the Perpignan & the Monaco, and was always asking for more silence, and .... i must confess that he was right !
No, no, no ! Musique d'ameublement was composed long after the Vexations, and on the opposite of what you can read, Vexations is not a joke at all. It might even be the most serious piece Satie ever composed.
So, if you really want to be into this piece, you have to do it in a meditating way. And even, i would recommand to put some long chair for the public. As i saw with the other Vexations, sleeping with it, is a fantastic journey.
There is also another think that i understood. Thanks to the addition of this 3rd theme repeat, i really feel that it was not a "long and never ending" piece, but on the other hand .... 840 pieces !
Yes, you got my point,
This is why Vexations is in plurial form (in French : 1 Vexation, 2 Vexations etc etc),
and my discovery is :
in fact when you are really into this music,
you understand that the real title should be "840 Vexations".
And with the lengh it is doing a "human journey" :
It starts with the wired, a meaningless song, turning around itself (Scriabine would describle this psychological status as "Affanato"or anguished ). The Variations are doing exactly the same, and are flipping one into another like concentric circles.
And exactly like "Love" , you will experience with the Vexations the same evolutions of feeling :
Non understanding / Frustration (another french word for vexation)
Anger
Pain
Despair
Sadness
and Forgivness going to a farewell
Then ... the simple frustration goes to pure love and forgivness thanks to a kind of "way of the Cross" (needless to remind you that Satie at this time was really into some kind of Christian-Gnostic sects)
After it, we had champagne, fun and food.
I was not tired at all. Exausted for sure. There was a pretty long question & answers from the audience, and also the internet audience. I guess it lasted 30 minutes
I rally don't remember the questions... but i guess i mostly said the very same things as i wrote there.
And surely the very same question : "do you really don't stop to go to the bathroom?" Yes, of course !! otherwise it won't be a non-stop performance !
A last image with all the team :
from left to right : Andréa Clanetti , Daniel Boéri and me
You will laugh with this very last details :
When i came back, i did not "fall in the bed" right away. I guess i was too much "high" with all the vitamins & redbull i took !
On the other hand, i took a shower and ...... ho God ..... i still remember THIS pain !!!
My back was hurting SO badly !!!!!!!!
I felt that all my back muscles, under the effect of the hot water, were like knives !!!!
Next Vexations step : the one in Rennes !
Also before i forget, this is an article on the "New Yorker" about my Satie performances :)
Recently, while i was visiting my familly in south of France, i had the pleasure to read an interview the magazine Fanfare did with me to go along side with the wonderful reviews of Christus.
You can read it there (if you can log in) : http://www.fanfaremag.com/
On the other hand, i will take the liberty to write it down (i won't wrote again the reviews, you can find them here: Christus reviews )
For the little storry : i did this interview on phone, while i was resting after the performance i did of my Philip Glass "all piano music" marathon in Kiev, in a wonderful hotel. I still remember the wonderful audience there... one of the warmest i met so far ! I really can't wait to return there next month !!!!
Hope you will enjoy it :)
A
Conversation with Nicolas Horvath
Two
years after the world celebrated Liszt’s bicentennial, new
recordings featuring this composer’s music continue to be released
at an astonishing pace. Indeed, for young pianists making their debut
in the recording studio, the inclusion of a Liszt work—and quite
often of the mighty Sonata itself—appears to have become de
rigueur. For that reason, I was not surprised in the slightest
when I got word that Nicolas Horvath, a young pianist I was to
interview, had chosen an all-Liszt program for his debut. That
quickly changed, however, when I received Horvath’s disc. It turns
out that this young pianist’s Liszt recording featured works I did
not even know existed—piano transcriptions of eight movements from
Christus, a rarely performed oratorio that is considered by
many to be one of the composer’s supreme achievements.
At
the beginning of the interview I asked Horvath, who was talking to me
from a hotel room in Kiev, Ukraine, if he had recovered from the
previous night’s piano “marathon,” a 6-hour affair that
involved a survey of Philip Glass’s entire output of works for
piano solo. “I am feeling quite well, actually. I’ve been playing
marathons like this one for a few years now. When I started doing
them, it used to take me a while to recover, but I’ve now learned
how to bounce back relatively quickly. Plus, I had to go right back
to the piano today to prepare for tomorrow’s performance, which
will feature Hans Otte’s ‘Book of Sounds.’ I am told that it
will be a premiere in Ukraine.” What is the longest piano marathon
he’s ever played? “The
longest piece was 35 hours non-stop for Erik Satie's Vexations at
Palais de Tokyo in Paris! But the longest marathon was 18 hours, I
performed Satie’s complete works for piano, including the famous
Vexations,
which I played 840 times, as indicated in the score.” Was getting
through the Glass marathon easy by comparison? “Actually,
playing Glass’s complete works is probably more difficult because
they are a lot more demanding technically speaking.” Does he enjoy
playing marathons? “Of course, that is what I do them. I enjoy the
spectacle of the performance itself, and the physical challenges it
presents. But there is also an artistic message in play. I’ve found
that presenting many woks of a particular composer in the same
setting is oftentimes illuminating for both the performer and the
audience. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the
audience knows that it is participating in an unusual,
once-in-a-lifetime concert.”
I
asked Horvath to retrace the steps that led him to where he is
today—has he always wanted to play piano marathons? “I have a
somewhat unusual background. Unlike most of my colleagues, I did not
grow up aspiring to be a musician. In fact, until I was a teenager, I
was not at all serious about my music education. I did play the piano
a lot, but I considered it mostly a hobby and definitely did not have
any idea that I would some day make a career out of it. Nonetheless,
every year I participated in a piano competition in my home town.
Despite not working very hard to prepare, I won a prize every year.
When I was 16, the competition was attended by the American conductor
Lawrence Foster. He was impressed with my playing and offered me a
scholarship to attend the Aspen Music Festival. I took him up on his
offer, and after a few months in the United States, things just
clicked for me and I realized that I wanted to be a musician. I
returned to my native Monaco, where I began to study seriously with
Gérard Frémy, who also helped me develop an interest in playing new
music. After a few years of study, I decided to move to Paris to
continue my studies, and after few years in Ecole Normale, I was able
to meet Bruno-Léonardo Gelber.”
I
asked Horvath if he participated in competitions while he was
studying. “I did not. In fact, Maestro Gelber told me that he would
only teach me if I agreed not to participate in competitions while I
was his student. He thought that, to reach my full potential, I had
to start in many respects from zero. For that reason, he also advised
me not to give concerts or recitals. As you can imagine, it was
difficult for me to be away from concert audiences, but I followed
Maestro Gelber’s advice and took a hiatus from public performances
for a few years.” What did he learn during the time he spent away
from the concert stage? “I earned a lot about sound production and
how to make the piano sing. The technique was already there, but I
learned how to better control it. While studying with Maestro Gelber
and after my studies with him concluded, I also received a lot of
advice from Oxana Yabonskaya, Eric Heidsieck, Gabriel Tacchino, and
Philippe Entremont, among many others. I eventually began performing
in public again after a few years and, after turning 30, I also
returned to the competition circuit. In the course of two years, I
won 11 prizes, including 7 grand prizes.”
I
asked Horvath to explain his interest in contemporary music. “It’s
hard to explain love. I am just fascinated with the complexity and
variety you find in contemporary music. This may surprise you, but I
can’t think of a better piano recital than one that would include
all of Stockhausen’s Klavierstücke. Unfortunately, I am yet to run
into a promoter who agrees with me! Most people who’ve heard me say
it think I am being funny. Still, I always insist on including new
music in almost all my recitals, and I oftentimes perform
Stockhausen, Ligeti, Nono, Berio, Pärt, Takemitsu, Glass, etc. Of
course, I also love Liszt, Scriabin, Debussy, Satie, Chopin, Bach,
Mozart, and so on. I believe that Alfred Brendel once said that it is
easier for a pianist to make a name for himself if he focuses
on a small number of composers and becomes a specialist, but doing so
he will stop to evolve. I subscribe to that observation.”
Given
his eclectic taste, I asked Horvath if it was difficult to settle on
just one composer for his debut recording. He replied: “Picking
Liszt was not difficult at all because he is definitely one of the
composers with whom I feel very close. Picking the contents of the
album was a lot more difficult. As of a few years ago, I didn’t
even know Christus. During a conversation with my dear friend
Leslie Howard, I asked him if he had a favorite Liszt work, and much
to my surprise he told me that it was Christus. I felt
embarrassed for not knowing the oratorio, so I got myself a recording
and the score and I was astounded at the beauty of the music. I also
found out from Leslie that Liszt had made a transcription for piano
and singers of the complete work and that 5 of the 14 movements are
for piano solo —Einleitung (Introduction), Pastorale,
Hirtengesang an der Krippe(the Shepherds’ Song at the
Manger), Die heiligen drei Könige (The Three Magi), and Das
Wunder (the Miracle). A few years later, I was approached by
Editions Hortus, a recording label, and asked to make a recording.
Naturally, I thought about Liszt. Initially, I proposed a program
that included the complete Via Crucis, the two Légendes,
and a few movements from Christus. Somewhat to my surprise,
Editions Hortus accepted my proposal right away, and they also asked
me to write the liner notes for the recording. In the course of
discussing my project with Leslie, who had already recorded 5 of the
14 movements, he pointed out the fact that the movement titled
Tristis est anima mea could
be also performable if, like in the Das Wunder
movement, I would play the tenor soli with the piano part. So
it was essentially a freestanding piano work. Given that Tristis
est anima mea lasts
nearly 15 minutes, I began to wonder if it were possible to
dedicate the whole album to Christus. After some more
detective work, I discovered at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
that Liszt had made two transcription of the movement titled Die
Gründung der Kirsche (The Founding of the Church) for harmonium
and organ. In reading through the manuscript of the harmonium
transcription, I saw that Liszt included various dynamic and
expression markings that cannot in fact be executed on the harmonium.
I thus concluded that Liszt must have intended that this work be
performed on the piano as well. I also compared the transcription to
the same movement in the score for piano and singers, and I saw that
the piano doubled the singers. This further led me to conclude that
the movement can be performed as a work for piano solo. Intrigued by
my findings, I carefully reread Liszt’s transcription for piano and
singers, looking to see if there were other movements in which the
piano doubled the singers. I thus came across the eighth piece
included on the album—O Filii et Filiae. It lasts a little
bit over 2 minutes, and it is easy to overlook given what comes
before and after it in the vocal score, but I believe that provides a
beautiful, quiet conclusion to the recital, akin to the ending of the
Sonata. In addition, Einleitung and O Filii et Filiae
are both reminiscent of Palestrina and Gregorian chant, and thus
there is wonderful symmetry in the recital.”
I
asked Horvath if he’s performed the 8 movements from Christus
included on his album before a live audience. “I’ve performed the
entire cycle 8 or 9 times, and I’ve played selected pieces dozens
of times. The audience loves this music even though it is so
different from what most of us associate with Liszt.” “Is
performing Christus as difficult as performing Liszt’s
treacherous etudes?” I asked. Horvath responded: “If many
respects, it is harder to play these transcriptions. Understandably,
the writing is not ‘pianistic,’ and in transcribing the
orchestral parts on a lot fewer staves, Liszt tied to stay true to
the original, so there are many pages that are nearly impossible to
perform. In addition to myriad technical difficulties, it is also
very hard to make this score come to life without the benefit of the
orchestra and singers. The music is very abstract and ‘pure,’
closer in spirit to Mozart, Bach, and Palestrina, and it is difficult
to make sense of it all on the piano, let alone convey through the
story of Christ’s life in a respectful way, as Liszt intended”
Does
he prefer the Liszt of Christus to the Liszt of the
Transcendental Etudes? “I love almost everything that came
out of Liszt’s pen, from the excesses of his early works to the
abstraction of his late piano works. Many dismiss Liszt’s role in
the history of music, but the truth of the matter is that he is the
link between Romanticism and the music of the early 20th century. His
constant experimentation with compositional techniques and tonality
and harmony is part of the reason why I find Christus to be
such a fascinating work.”
In
parting, I asked Horvath about his future projects. “I have so many
projects to look forward to. Next season, I will be performing all of
Liszt’s works for piano and orchestra with the Monaco Philharmonic
Orchestra and do the Ukrain premiere the last work for piano and
orchestra by Arvo Pärt “Lamentate”. I am also planning a
new Liszt recording, but the repertoire is yet to be determined. Long
term, I would love to record all of Glass’s piano music and
Scriabin’s complete piano sonatas.” Radu A. Lelutiu
Today, when i just saw on facebook a very nice review about the Christus, i came across a statue that i used to love when i was a kid: Antonio CANOVA : Psyché ranimée par le baiser de l’Amour
It might sounds a little cheesy, but when the first time i saw Canova's statue, it was in a history book, i was.... 13? I remember that i went to a printer and asl him to do a copy of it (no internet at this time ! and no personal printer too, yes i am a dinosaurus ! ).
I am happy to have crossed once again this statue, curiously i still did not see it "in real life". Maybe i was not ready yet? or too far away to be able to truly apreciate it ?
For years i used to watch it, and saw it as my ideal vision of Love.
I loved everything, the delicate gesture, the beauty of the faces and their expression ... the way Psyché abandons herself into Cupidon. Not like nowaday pleasure, but something more like a mutual trust, warmfull ... Complete purity in love ! Cupidon just hold her gently, and no more, in the very same time he is hiding her body like if he was keeping all her details only for himself...
Anyway, i am not very gifted to talk about fine art, but the Louvre Museum wrote a wonderful page with maximum details about it : Louvre text about the Canova statue
I must confess that i am still "in love" with this statue, and still see it as a love utopia, or a dream i hope to be able to reach one day...
a huge croud outside, even if with my picture you can't see it
Yesterday was the parisian première of the new Einstein on the Beach of Philip Glass.
Like every Glass fans, i knew the music, i read about it, so ... i was supposed to have no surprises
but ....
It was MINDBLOWING !!!! i was expecting many, but .... not THAT MUCH !!!!!!! i was Lucky to be at the very first rows (the "H" row, perfectly fitting me !!! ), and in the middle, so it was the perfect conditions possible.
the singers starts when ppl were still talking and sitting
they were looking at out straight in the eyes ! ! but always with smile !
The funny thing was : it started right when they opened the doors !!
Since i was very front, i could see all of it, the singers arriving slowly by slowly with a huge "Fade In".
Since the light was still "on" everybody was talking ....
And of course
when
the lights were 'off'
the very same that talked so much did the usual "shuuuuuut" noises ......
Einstein starts ....
It was really "something" ! i am still under its spell. I don't know how to "explain" it, there was something magical, and also beautiful at the very same time.
Everything was great, the dancers, the performers, the text, the sounds ....
And even the public !! i was expecting them to leave, and never come back . In fact few left, and usually they came back after 10 or 20 minutes !
the famous image :)
It also confort me in a point i was "wondering about" : on the opposite of what the PGE usually do (specially when synth is involved" is it more than agreed to do a Glass with rubato and inspiration (and not a dry note to note perfect rendition) , i am thinking in particular to the solo violin , solo fagot and solo sax part, with sometime some "jazzy swings" ).
What to say about the dancers, the texts, the abstractness of those flying light lines ... Also ..... it finished with such a beautiful love story ! :)
dansers were amazing !
the so famous Spaceship !
I would love to see it again, and i understand why, when they premiered, public came again and again to see it 2/3/4 times , i would love to do it !
All the Chatelet was doing a 15 minutes long Standing Ovation !
to sum up, i would say, it is like "love at 1st sight" . You expect to like it, or at best to enjoy it, But ... when it finished you realise that you experienced something so intense that you will never forget in your entire life, you feel like something Inside you changed. Touched by bliss and at the very same time sad because you really don't know when you will be able to see it again (so it fits perfectly the definition of "love at 1st sight" )
Yes Philip Glass was here ! but did not perform ...
You can see all the concert here : http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/einstein-on-the-beach-au-theatre-du-chatelet-146813 (available for free for 4 months! ) For the curious ones : you can see me searching my place at 0:02:32 , and at 0:03 something , taking with my "wonderful" new cellphone (that i really do not master yet) the pictures you can see on my blog ^^
